[NBA.com] Summer Dreaming

Quite a few Rockets in Awards conversations: http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/fran_blinebury/08/20/summer-dreaming-most-valuable-player-mvp-for-2015-16-predictions/index.html

MVP:

James Harden, Houston Rockets: It was a neck-and-neck race with Curry through all of last season and some of us cast our votes this way simply because Harden had to carry so much of the burden, physically and mentally, for the Rockets. He played without center Dwight Howard for exactly half the regular season. Power forward Terrence Jones missed the first several months. Point guard Pat Beverley and big man Donatas Motiejunas went down at the end. Yet Harden ran the offense, scored the points and made all of the clutch shots to win the Rockets their first division title in nearly two decades. Then he admittedly didn't measure up in a showdown with Curry in the Western Conference finals. But if newly-acquired Ty Lawson can carry some of the weight of setting up the offense, if Howard can stay healthy, Harden could take his game to even greater heights and be right back in the MVP conversation.

MIP:

Donatas Motiejunas, Houston Rockets: James Harden definitely was the lead horse pulling the wagon with his MVP-level performance. But an argument can be made that the power forward from Lithuania was the second most instrumental player in keeping the Rockets afloat last season. He filled in for both Dwight Howard and Terrence Jones with nifty moves in the paint born of great footwork, a nice touch from the outside, a willingness and ability to keep the moving in the offense and joyous energy that he brings to the court. He was averaging 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game before back surgery ended his season and kept him out of the playoffs entirely. There is grit to his work ethic and a joy to his game that could shine if he stays healthy and gets more minutes.

6th Man:

Corey Brewer, Houston Rockets: We're starting out with some big assumptions. That a set of good wheels will allow Dwight Howard to play far more than just the 41 regular season games of last season. That James Harden will deliver another year that puts him right in the thick of the MVP race. That Ty Lawson is able to pull his life together off court. Bring the long, rangy Brewer off the bench with that starting trio and the Rockets are looking at another 55-plus win season thanks to his versatility at both ends of the court. Brewer's arrival in December helped turn last season around in Houston. He's an excellent finisher on the break and can be the kind of difference-maker necessary for the Rockets to return to the Western Conference finals and beyond.

DPOY:

Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets: He used to practically own this award, winning it three straight times from 2009-11 in Orlando. Then back problems and eventual back surgery led to the lost season with the Lakers and eventually to Houston, where it's been a slow and steady rebuild. Howard missed 41 regular season games — exactly half the schedule — a year ago while battling a nagging right knee injury. For the second straight year he came up solid in the playoffs as a paint protector and shot blocker as the athleticism has steadily returned. After 11 years in the NBA, Howard will turn 30 in December. But if the wheels are good over the long haul, it appears the back is once more strong enough to shoulder much of the road for the Rockets and keep them among the elite in the frantic Western Conference race.

COY:

Kevin McHale, Rockets: He arrived in Houston four seasons ago trailing legitimate questions behind. Was he really up to the grind? Was he willing to put in the long hours and the full bore commitment to be more than a Hall of Fame figurehead on the bench? Could he make many of his old school ways sync up with the 3-ball modern philosophy of Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey? Yes, yes, and yes. All you need to know is that, to a man, his players love playing for him. Over the past three seasons, he has embraced James Harden, welcomed Dwight Howard and steadily lifted the franchise back to a level that it hadn't been in nearly two decades. He coached the Rockets to a 56-win season — second-best ever — the Southwest Division title and got them to the Western Conference finals. He did it all with Howard missing 41 games of the regular season and then losing point guard Pat Beverley and power forward Donatas Motiejunas for the playoffs. There are no more questions. He's McHale is the real deal and should no longer be overlooked.

 

I get Buldenholzer was the COY based on regular season, but if you take the whole season, there is no way anybody deserves it more than McHale. Steve Kerr as an honourable mention of course, but McHale did way more with less.

 

Not yet been discussed